Emelia Arthur
One thing is certain: Ghana has a palatable food culture and stakeholders in the hospitality industry can help boost tourism by selling the country through food.
That’s the premise which prompted Made-in-Ghana campaign ambassador and gospel musician Ms. Emelia Arthur, during a recent interaction with the media, to urge hotels and restaurants to always consider food as one of the surest ways of offering a real taste of Ghana to tourists and other foreign visitors.
“Hotels are often the first port of call by such people and there are several ways the facilities can project Ghana. These include the pleasant and efficient attitude of staff and general décor that effectively incorporate Ghanaian designs and motifs.
“There should, however, be no hesitation in waking up their taste buds to our wide variety of food flavours,” said Ms. Arthur, who also hosts the Ghanaian Kitchen programme that stresses healthy cooking with Ghanaian produce on Homebase TV.
She pointed out that some Ghanaian hotels and restaurants still place too much emphasis on continental dishes to the detriment of local ones. In her view, some hospitality facilities strive to offer nutritious Ghanaian dishes but more can be done in order to entice more people to come in and taste our healthy, delicious goodies.
“Every region of Ghana is proud of its traditional dishes and drinks. So across board, we have a wide array of stuff made from staples like maize, cassava, plantain, millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes and yam.
“They often go with appetizing soups and stews made from palm nuts, groundnuts, cocoyam leaves, spinach, mushroom, okro, beans, garden eggs, tomatoes and more. So there’s no shortage of what we can offer by way of food,” she stated.
Ms. Arthur added that there are also recipes and skills passed down through the generations for the preparation of inviting drinks like ‘asana’, ‘pito’, palm wine and ‘brukutu’, which can all enhance the presence of Ghana in our hotels and restaurants.
The Made-in-Ghana campaign ambassador mentioned that food preparation and proper presentation are major economic factors which can be depended on to help raise the hospitality sector to significant heights.
“So a real taste of Ghana through food can only raise our profile as a warm-hearted people ready to exploit the associated benefits,” Ms. Arthur concluded.
By George Clifford Owusu